Waynesboro Residents Speak Out about the Dispute between the Mayor and the Board of Alderman

WAYNESBORO MISS. – Friday, residents in Waynesboro voiced their frustrations about how the disagreement between the mayor and Board of Alderman is taking a toll on the city. “It's making us look bad, to be honest… it's not what Waynesboro is all about,” Waynesboro resident, Timothy Ramey said.

The disagreement between the Waynesboro mayor and the Board of Alderman led to 60 city workers not being rehired. The mayor believes each individual needs to be rehired on an individual basis, but the broad wants the mayor to rehire everyone as a group. Ultimately, both sides are currently at a stalemate, and as a result services in the city are at a standstill.

“Don't let it affect everybody else's lives,” Waynesboro resident, Nolan Harper said. “He [Waynesboro mayor] says everything is running smoothly in the city. It's not running smoothly in my part of town. They got garbage still on side of the road that has not been picked up.” This is one of many services missing in the city. “It's still a lot of people out of water dealing with this situation, and plus a lot of people are out of jobs... And we don't have enough police on the force to serve the county,” another Waynesboro resident named Milton said. Other closed facilities include Waynesboro City Hall, the fire station, and even the municipal court. Many residents of the community say the mayor and the Broad of Alderman need to work together to get the issue resolved quickly. “There needs to be a solution. It needs to be resolved and something is going to have to be done,” Ramey said. “If not then… I think the people in Waynesboro know what they need to do during the next election.” “I feel like the mayor just needs to go ahead and just hire them in a bulk, and like I said… in thirty days and sixty days do an evaluation,” Waynesboro resident, Annie Holloway said. “If someone is not doing their job, or meeting the job requirements… Then bring it to the board and do whatever it is that needs to be done from that point. But right now, those workers do need to get back to work.” Overall, residents say they just want to see the mayor work with the board to everything resolved. “We all just need to work together,” Holloway said. “Hire them back in a bunch like I said… do the evaluation if they are not doing their jobs and bring them to the board. Then go from there.”